BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 389 



worthy of a trial, though iu such places it is not used for the capture 

 of cuttle-fish. Here is employed au artificial decoy fish made of wood 

 formed nearly like a fiat-bottom boat Avith pieces of glass set iu the bot- 

 tom and sides. It is of the size of the body of au average cuttle-fish, 

 and is trolled after the boat. Accordiug to the author previously men- 

 tioned, the ancient Greeks towed after the boat a female in order to 

 attract the males, which were then scooped up with the net. Since at 

 the present time it is often difficult to procure a female, the modern 

 Greeks substitute for the natural decoy an artificial one. 



The capture of fish by means of light is extensively employed in shal- 

 low-water and in fresh-water fishing, but it is confined to the taking of 

 fish singly. In the sea fishery light is employed also in some places, as 

 we have seen, for the capture of fish in schools. The reason why this 

 " auxiliary weapon " has not come into general use is twofold : partly 

 because of technical difficulties, and partly because its operations with 

 the means which people hitherto have been able to command have 

 been confined to a very small territory in comparison with that operated 

 upon by other means of capture. The development of the electric light 

 will probably lead to its more extended use in the fishery service than 

 hitherto; but we assume that its especial use must be as a means of 

 dazzling the fish, which will arrest them until they can be caught with 

 other implements. Its use in the purse-net and trawl-net {Synkenot) 

 fishing is therefore only a question of time. 



193.— TBE mODE OF I^IFE OF EEL,8.* 



By HJBRR HIIVKELMANBT. 



When yon ask fishermen how it comes that the yield of the eel fish, 

 eries on our Baltic coast varies greatly in the different years, you will 

 always get the answer that this is owing to the direction and the force 

 of the wind. Observations on the mode of life of eels, made by me for 

 a number of years, have fully corroborated these statements of the fish- 

 ermen. 



As far as our coast is concerned, the eel fisheries are most successful 

 in autumn, during a southeast wind, while when the wind is from the 

 northeast, east, and south-southeast, the results of the fisheries in most 

 places leave much to be desired. During all other winds from the west 

 the yield of the fisheries is reduced to a minimum, so that they become 

 absolutely unprofitable. Of less influence than the direction of the wind 

 is its force. It may, however, be laid down as a rule that the stronger 



* Ueber die Lebensweise der Aale. From Circular No. 3, 1884j of the German Fishery 

 Association, Berlin, April 4, 1884. Translated from the German by Herman Jacob- 

 son. 



